11. Chapter 9
NOAH
K nock. Knock. Knock.
“Come in,” Noah called out and sighed.
Today was Frankie’s first day, and he hadn’t gotten a lot of work done. He was worried she might need something and ask him for help, but she didn’t. Maybe she knew what she was doing, or maybe she’d asked Trent who was closer to her.
It didn’t sit well with him. He wanted to be the person she came to when she needed something. He wanted to be her person.
His eyes widened a fraction before he schooled his features as Monty walked in. She smiled, but he could see the worry across her face.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“She’s not a homeless person, I know that since they wouldn’t be able to get in, but I’m worried. I walked in and nothing happened. I said hi and nothing happened again.” Monty was rambling.
“Take a deep breath and slowly let it out.” Noah found himself saying. “Now, tell me what happened.”
“There is someone asleep in the employee room. I tried to wake her up, but she didn’t move at all.
I tried talking to her and making noise so I didn’t startle her, but nothing happened.
She’s not dead since I saw her chest rise and fall, but she isn’t waking up,” Monty rushed out.
“Trent and John were busy, and I don’t know the other owners as well and didn’t want to bother them. ”
Worry churned in his stomach. It couldn’t be her, could it?
“Do you know who it is?” he asked as he stood up. “Walk with me.”
They made their way out of his office and toward the employee room. Please don’t be her.
“No, I have never seen her before. I figured she had to be new since she knew where the employee room was,” Monty offered. “Sorry, you know I’ve been out for a couple of days. My little brother was sick again, and I had to take a couple of days off.”
“You’re okay. I told you that you didn’t need to apologize. We can’t control when we get sick,” he reminded her. “Thank you for telling me about this. I can take it from here. You start getting ready for work.”
Monty nodded and walked away, leaving Noah to himself. And just like he feared. Frankie was curled up in a small ball on the bench, fast asleep.
Poor girl. How tired she must have been to fall asleep here and not wake up with a lot of noise. After walking up to her, he kneeled and ran his hands through her hair.
“Frankie,” he gently said. “It’s time to wake up.”
But she didn’t stir. Worry flowed through him as he continued to run his hands through her hair, hoping to wake her up. The club wasn’t a quiet place, and yet she had fallen asleep. Was she all right? Did she have some type of medical condition that caused her to pass out at random places?
“Come on, baby. You need to wake up.” He softly spoke. “It’s time to get up and go home so you can sleep in your real bed.”
He didn’t know if she even had a real bed where she lived.
It was taking everything inside of him not to take her back to his house and tell her that was where she was living now.
When she’d first told him the address, he had to take a deep breath so he didn’t start demanding things.
She wouldn’t have done well with that, and he didn’t want to scare her off.
Frankie looked like she was about to run at any second during, before, and after the interview. What was going on? Was she running from someone? Was that why she lived in such a sketchy part of town?
Noah didn’t know, but he was going to find out.
Frankie was his.
From the moment he saw her, Noah knew that Frankie was the girl for him, the one and only woman he would ever fall in love with.
Looking back at the door, Noah made a decision. If she wasn’t going to wake up now, he would take her to his office and keep watch of her until she did. He wanted her safe, which she would be in his office.
“Don’t freak out on me,” he whispered, picking her up.
Frankie immediately snuggled up to his chest and relaxed. A smile spread across his face. She knew she belonged to him, even when she was asleep. Hopefully, when he decided to claim her, she would be just as receptive when she was awake.
“I’ve got you.” he held her close as he walked out of the employees’ room.
“Is something wrong with Frankie?” Trent asked. “Did she pass out? I told her she didn’t look good earlier. She told me she was fine and that she would go to Dominic after sitting for a couple of minutes. I knew I shouldn’t have let her be alone.”
Noah turned to Trent, some foreign emotion running through him. Jealousy? Anger?
“If you find her in any position like that again, you call me right away,” Noah demanded. “Do you understand?”
Trent raised an eyebrow. “You claiming her?”
He nodded. “Yes, I am. Anything concerning Frankie will be talked over with me first. She is mine, and I am going to take care of her. Let everyone know so they come to me.”
Claiming her already was risky. It hadn’t been his intention, but seeing Trent take interest in her rubbed him up the wrong way. He didn’t want him getting in the way when he already had his sights set on her.
“What happened to Frankie?” Dominic asked. “She didn’t show up, and I was about to come and find her. Would’ve come earlier, but Monty needed some help with something.”
“Noah just claimed Frankie.” Trent ignored everything Dominic had said.
“Not surprised. I saw them interact yesterday, and you could see the chemistry between them. I’m surprised he didn’t say something earlier.” Dominic chuckled before looking at Noah. “Does she know?”
“Not yet, but she will,” he replied. “I saw the chemistry, you saw it. I just need to ease her into it, not scare her away.”
“Am I the only one who didn’t see it?” Trent asked. “How did I miss that? With the way you keep looking at her, I shouldn’t have missed it.”
Noah wasn’t trying to make it a big deal, but apparently he hadn’t hidden it well enough the day before. Now it was too late. He’d already claimed her, not that he wanted to change that, but Frankie would find out soon if he didn’t tell her.
He could not tell her yet.
He didn’t want her to run off and quit. Noah could tell how much she needed it, and he didn’t want her to feel like she had to resign.
“I don’t know, man, but it was pretty obvious. Just don’t flirt with her.” Dominic rolled his eyes. “Are you going to wake her up and want me to take her home?”
Noah shook his head. “She’s sleeping pretty hard. I’ll wake her up in a little bit and take her home myself. You can go home.”
“Thanks, boss. Have a good night.” Dominic walked off.
Looking back down at Frankie, a small smile found its way on his face. She was absolutely precious sleeping in his arms. If he could hold her like this all the time, he would. He wanted to, but it was up to Frankie if she wanted the same.
“Well, I feel like I’m third wheeling already,” Trent mumbled. “If anything happens again, I’ll let you know.”
“What happened earlier?” Noah asked.
“She was leaning against the door, looking pale, exhausted, and like she could sleep at any point. So I got her water and made sure she sat down. I was going to get Dominic to come take her home, but she insisted that she wanted to sit down for a little while and could get herself to Dominic when she was ready,” Trent explained.
“So I left. I know I shouldn’t have, but part of my mind was on my cookies in the oven and not wanting them to burn.
I was going to go by and check on her to see if she needed anything. ”
“Monty beat you to that,” Noah informed him. “Thanks for looking after her. I’m taking over.”
Trent held his hands up and nodded. “Heard loud and clear. Good luck.”
Noah didn’t need luck. He needed Frankie to be safe, healthy, and always near him.
When he got to his office, he gently placed her on the couch and covered her with the soft blanket.
When Alice had told him he needed a soft blanket for when the Littles came to talk in his office, he didn’t understand, but now he did.
He was using it for the first time with Frankie, and he was going to have to say thank you to Alice.
“Daddy’s here,” he whispered, kissing her forehead.
Noah wanted to sit next to her, holding her hand or holding her as she slept, but he had work to get done, and he didn’t want to scare her by being so close.
Should he try harder to wake her up to get her home, or should he let her sleep a little longer?
It was a tough decision, one she could be mad at him for later.
His mind went to the day before when he went to get food for them. When he’d come back in, she looked so comfortable on the chair, her eyes closed like she could fall asleep easily. Was she not getting enough sleep?
“I’ll wake you up soon.” He kissed her forehead and headed to his chair behind his desk.